As everyone knows, our beautiful daddy passed away on the 12th of September after battling stage 4 bowel cancer and devastating complications that followed.

What happened in those final weeks is something no family should ever have to endure.

He developed a liver abscess that went untreated, leading to sepsis. His body began to shut down — first his liver, then his kidneys. He contracted Covid, E. coli, pneumonia… one cruel blow after another. On the 17th of August, he collapsed and was rushed to hospital. From that moment on, our lives became a cycle of hope and heartbreak.

One minute we were told he was slowly improving. The next, we were told he had only days to live unless he started dialysis because his kidneys were failing. Then came the devastating news that a deep abscess in his liver had been missed weeks before, delaying treatment and leaving nothing more that could be done.

In just four short weeks, our daddy and husband suffered more than most people could endure in a lifetime.

We watched him pull blood clots from his mouth — clots longer than the side of my head. We watched him flatline during dialysis, only to fight his way back. He fought with every ounce of strength in his body to stay with his family. And through all of it, he refused even basic pain relief. He would not let us see how much he was hurting.

I have never in my life witnessed strength like his. He did not complain. Not once.

Even while fighting for his life, he had quietly booked, planned, and paid for his own funeral so that we would not have to carry that burden. That was the kind of man he was — selfless, protective, brave to his very core. A devoted husband. A proud and loving daddy. Our strength.

Watching someone you love battle cancer — watching them lose their mobility, their independence, their energy, their voice — is soul-destroying. To see life slowly being taken from someone who so desperately wants to stay is inhuman. It is terrifying for the person living through it and utterly powerless for the family standing beside them.

Cancer is a cruel disease. It strips a person from the inside out. It steals their peace, their power, their future. But what it could never take was his love for us, his courage, or the way he fought until his very last breath.

He did not lose the fight. His body simply could not carry on.